Pressure may keep hospitals safe

Medicare has just announced it is penalizing more than 700 of the nation’s hospitals because they have higher rates of patient safety mishaps, which the government and patient advocacy groups have been trying for years to prevent.

What are those incidents that have resulted in a one percent cut in a hospital’s Medicare payments over the year? They are mistakes you wouldn’t want to have happen to you or a family member, things like infections caused by incisions made during colon surgeries and hysterectomies, by urinary catheters and by central lines inserted into a large vein to draw...